Thursday will be the 4 month anniversary of this site and I can’t even relate to you how excited I am!!!!!  I’ll use excessive exclamation points to emphasis my glee.   Today our little blog went over the 5,000 visitors mark.  I squealed!!! I realize that this is an entirely arbitrary number, but it’s a good number.  A nice round number.  Imagine me twirling in my desk chair, fists raised in the air in triumph, doing an incredibly dorky white girl dance.  

WAAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

The Bandit would say, “Yippeekayay” I have no idea how to spell that and I’m much to distracted and excited to Google it. 

Oooooh.  I’m all a Twitter.  Speaking of Twitter, it turns out my husband Tweets.  Doesn’t that seem like the sort of thing a wife should know?  I literally had no idea.  I wonder what other interesting things he’s babbling about over there when I’m not listening. 

However, since I’m babbling to you while on an adrenaline high, I’ll casually mention that I changed my hair color – I feel rather dramatically.  I did it in the middle of the night.  I think I might have a sleep disorder.  I’m not sure how I feel about the color right now – except that hair grows so whatever, I not too worked up about it.  Sassy noticed the instant she woke up in the morning.  She’s good for that: new shoes, new jewelery, new hair.  It’s been three days.  Do you think My Honey has said one single word? NOPE.  He either hates it or he has no idea what I’m doing over here either.

I was up really, really late writing last night.  I finally commanded myself to go to bed at 2:00 because, when I did the math, 6am comes really freakin’ early.  Anyway, when I drug my tired tookus home from work and collapsed on the couch, The Bandit sidled up to me and this was our conversation.

“Are you tired, Momma?”

“Yessirree.”

“Why don’t you take a nap at work like I do at school?”

“Because grown ups don’t get to do that.”

“Do you want me to talk to that mean man for you, Momma?”

As much as I’d love to eat some graham crackers and a bit of milk and roll out my nap mat around 1:00 or so, I don’t really see a lot of work getting done afterwards. 

Besides my boss is the sweetest lady ever and, lord knows, I don’t want to ruin her day by making her deal with The Bandit when he smells an opportunity for trouble making in the air.

Ava and I met with a fellow writer today.  Isabella was mired in family obligations, but she was there in spirit, and I reported everything back to her the minute I got back in the car.  The Sister’s are hoping to work with this gentleman on a collaboration that has far reaching and lofty goals.  The subject matter is a far cry from the romance we’re known for by you all, but not so far from us in reality.  At least the one of us that was a film major in college, and has read every true crime and mobster book she could put her hands on, and took forensics classes.  That Sister is a little twisted anyway.  Her mother would tell you all that she was concerned about her daughter’s morbid tendencies.  If you haven’t guessed, it’s me.  I have a very wide range of interests, to say the very least.   The Sisters are very excited and, with all the talent involved, we have no doubt it will succeed. 

As for poor Thomas and Francesca, the hero and heroine of Seeing Love Clearly, they are truely a mess.  Some may say that Francesca is heartless, but nothing could be further from the truth.  I feel for the poor guy, but really, he brought this all on himself.  I have a suspicion that everything will work out in the end, but not without some 19th century tabloid fodder.

Stay tuned……Information will be forthcoming as it develops.

Tonight, Sassy’s school held the annual Ice Cream Social.  This is a raucus affair that the kids really love.  There is always a limbo and a hula hoop contest.  Sassy started practicing the hula hoop back in July.  Her grandmother bought them all hoops and they would hula and hula and hula.

My Honey and I tried to practice with her, but the magic is gone.  It’s one of those things you thought you could do, in fact you used to be quite good at, but now find quite impossible.  It turns out my hoop doesn’t hula anymore.  This last year, I’ve discovered a few other things people our age shouldn’t be doing.   It seems we’re in this weird transitional age.  I seem to remember my father at about my age still thinking he could beat up all the young punks.  I see a little bit of that in My Honey, too.  My dear friend, Dona, god bless her, just had rotater cuff surgery because she was trying to do cartwheels with her granddaughters when she heard a snap.  Another friend broke both elbows roller skating.  I’m telling you, it’s alarming.  I often tease that I’m going to bubble wrap The Bandit but perhaps that would be better used on his father and I.

Anyway, all of her hard training paid off.  Ms. Sassy won the contest by a landslide this year – while hula hooping on one foot!

Waaaahooo, Sassy!

I wrote exactly one sentence last night and it wasn’t even especially inspired.  I have a daunting assignment ahead of me, and last night didn’t get me anywhere closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. 

My Honey and I each got a child to bed, snuggled in with their respective beds with their “backies” and cuddly animals, and he figured they were down for the count.  One of his friends was playing last night so he went to their show.  I settled into my comfy desk chair, cranked up the air conditioner, and prepared to play God and mess up some lives. 

8:35        The Bandit comes in because his neck hurts and he needs medicine.  I kiss him all over, spreading the Magical Mommy Medicine all over his neck.  I tuck him back in and leave the room.

8:40        I let Roscoe in because he’s baying outside the French Doors to the back yard. 

8:45        The Bandit is back.  This time he claims the dog is bothering him.  I know, little man, the dog is bothering me, too.  I tuck him back in his bed and remonstrate the Idiot Dog and tell him to leave the boy alone.

9:00        I let Roscoe back outside because he’s clawing the door.

9:02        I let Roscoe back inside – the baying has begun in earnest again.

9:15        The Bandit is back.  He needed to go potty.  He walked all the way through the house to the furthest opposite corner to tell me he was out of bed ONLY because he had to go potty.  I march his happy little butt in the cowboy jammies back to his room.

9:17        I let Roscoe back outside.

9:21        I let Roscoe back inside.

9:37        I let Roscoe back outside.  I slam the door this time.

9:45        I hear The Bandit singing in his room.  “Take Me Out to The Ballgame” is his song of choice.  I tell him to go to sleep.

9:47        I let Roscoe back inside.  I shake my finger at him and tell him to behave.  He gallops away, tongue lolling out of his goofy mouth without a care in the world.

10:00     The Bandit is back.  This time the dog is stealing his stuff.  I go to the living room where Roscoe is standing on top of the coffee table, stuffed monkey in his mouth, his eyes wild with the hopes of a game of chase.  Fortunately, I am smarter than the dog – just barely.  For as big as he is, he’s very good at dodging and weaving.  The Bandit laughs with glee.  Oh, he’s awake now.

10:15     Miraculously, both the dog and The Bandit have fallen asleep.  Look, aren’t they cute.

10:16     I give up on writing tonight.  After all that, it’s just not there tonight.  Besides, Project Runway is on.

11:30     I wander out to the living room and there is the desiccated remains of the Super Dooper Snuggle Bear.  OH NO! One leg is completely missing.  There’s stuffing everywhere.  OH THE HUMANITY!  The Super Dooper Snuggle Bear is The Bandit’s special bear.  He is very dear.  Unfortunately, he has been in Roscoe’s jaws before.  He no longer has ears or a tail – just pitiful little raggedy stubs where ears and tail should be.  The leg has been torn off two times prior.  I scoop up the remains and spend the next hour and a half sewing him back together.  The Bandit can’t see him like this.  It’s too dreadful.  I must protect the innocent.

1:15        I turn out the lights and go to bed, only for My Honey to come home filled with stories and gossip to share.

I wrote one whole sentence the entire night.  Deep sigh.

I know I’ve mentioned before that the Sister’s belong to a writer’s group. It’s a local chapter of Romance Writers of America and, quite frankly, I’ve never met a more supportive bunch of writers in my life. One of our friends there, Sherrill Quinn, has a new book out and another of the more tech savvy women made her a video for the book. Follow this link – Sherrill Quinn.  It’s a cool video and a great book.  Mine is autographed if that makes you more envious. 

I’m so jealous!  As soon as I finally sell something I’m totally getting a video!

This is an update on the complete retooling of my finished novel.  As you may remember from last weekish, Ava was was working hard at revamping it.  The bottom line is, the Sisters three have learned immeasurable things about writing over the course of this year.  The story has great bones, but it needs a lot of cosmetic surgery.  I had been whining about how mean and cruel she was being and, without exaggerating, how close I was to vomiting over the entire thing.  Well, I’ll have you know that I am completely on board with the changes she’s making.  The book is still entirely my words, my creation, but she moving and fluffing and molding it into a much better story.

Stay tuned.  As soon as I can, I’ll post a snippet to tease you all.